I am an American working in Tokyo and get paid in Yen. I have way too much Yen now, and I want to change to USD, especially because the rate is relatively good at the moment.
I would like to hear any anecdotal evidence about the cheapest way to change JPY to USD. [more inside]
posted by banishedimmortal
on Mar 16, 2016 -
7 answers

I just had a baby 7 months ago, and the amount of clothes I have that are either in GREAT condition, or have never been worn is sickening. I keep buying and buying, and she keeps growing and growing. I thought a lovely idea would be to bring other mothers in the community together to do some sort of exchange maybe 4 times a year, but I need some help brainstorming how to set this up. [more inside]
posted by MamaBee223
on Mar 9, 2016 -
8 answers

My plan is to embark on a year-long round-the-world trip at the end of year (roughly Dec 2016), but I'm having difficulty in deciding how to fund the trip amidst fluctuations in the benchmark currencies. As an expat living in Korea, I'm wondering which currency I should exchange for. [more inside]
posted by AngryTypingGuy
on Feb 26, 2016 -
6 answers

Thinking of dropping spouses' employee-sponsored health insurance for an exchange plan due to high monthly premium cost. For people who have switched, were you happy in doing so? Were there issues to be aware of in switching? [more inside]
posted by Gingercat
on Jan 23, 2016 -
10 answers

I did not have health insurance for the last 8 months of last year. How likely am I to be granted an exemption to the penalty I'd normally face when it comes time to file my taxes? [more inside]
posted by Venadium
on Jan 19, 2016 -
6 answers

We would love to rent out our condo in Vancouver—or participate in some kind of home exchange—but are reluctant to leave our cat with strangers. (And local cat sitters are quite expensive.) Is there a site, or a filter on an existing site, to find others in a similar situation? [more inside]
posted by motownie
on Nov 18, 2015 -
9 answers

Driving through Poughkeepsie, NY this weekend, I spied this amazing billboard lurking at the back of a parking lot off Route 9. I think it was quite recently uncovered and, from a quick look at the wood frame, looks like an actual old ad. What year is it from?
posted by minervous
on Jul 6, 2015 -
3 answers

I am looking for something to track that an email has been acknowledged within 24 hours and send to a backup/manager if not. We use Outlook and Microsoft Exchange. I am not even sure what to search for on this, but any direction is helpful. (rules or addins would be fine.)
posted by slavlin
on Jun 11, 2015 -
5 answers

I've noticed that the iPhone Mail app automatically lists me as the first recipient when I am on the To: line of most emails. When I read the same email in Outlook, however, I am not listed as the first recipient; sometimes I am even the last on the To: line. Why is this happening? [more inside]
posted by alice ayres
on Apr 1, 2015 -
11 answers

Our small office is running Windows Server 2008 R2. This one server acts as our file server, our mail server with Exchange 2010, our Active Directory server, AutoDesk License server, etc. I want to have on-prem backup and use a cloud storage for some form of offsite backup, but I can't seem to find the right solution. [more inside]
posted by MrBobaFett
on Mar 27, 2015 -
6 answers

Magento Calendar announced today that they are shutting down on December 23, 2014. I discovered them a few weeks ago and have found it to be the best calendar app for my needs. It especially handles Exchange/Google calendar interaction well, and I'll be missing that the most. [more inside]
posted by scottso17
on Dec 15, 2014 -
1 answer

I have a large email account and would like to sync email to my iPhone - but only the emails going back one year. IOS 7.1.2 will allow one month and then "no limit". Nothing in between.
I have even tried the Outlook app on the iPhone - kind of works, but search only goes back 6 months.
Any ideas anyone?
posted by bright77blue
on Sep 3, 2014 -
2 answers

I work at a company that uses Outlook and Exchange. I link my iPhone as well as my iMac at home. Everything was working great until lately. I've noticed that many of my events have been somehow converted into meetings. I'm suspecting my recent upgrade to Mavericks to be the culprit here. This brings to mind two important questions. [more inside]
posted by tommasz
on Jul 24, 2014 -
0 answers

I conduct interviews and want the best distribution for them. They are occasionally broadcast on KBOO in Portland. I also have access to the Public Radio Exchange as well as Pacifica's "audioport". With those, I can offer these interviews for rebroadcast through affiliated radio stations throughout the country. [more inside]
posted by CollectiveMind
on Jul 6, 2014 -
2 answers

The American Legislative Exchange Council is an organization that creates "model bills" that reflect the interest of big business and encourages state legislators to adopt those bills as legislation to introduce to their legislatures. ALEC promotes these model bills to legislators who attend one or all of three annual meetings each year. [more inside]
posted by CollectiveMind
on Mar 23, 2014 -
2 answers

My au pair is South African and currently lives in Namibia. She arrives in the US in one week. I just wrote her an email suggesting she bring some of her favorite foods, which I would suggest to anyone leaving their home for an extended period of time. However, I do not have a sense for other things readily available to her at home that would not be available or would be cost-prohibitive for her to acquire here. What, if anything (else), should I suggest she bring? Thanks.
posted by emkelley
on Jan 19, 2014 -
12 answers

I received a gift card to a major retail store for Christmas from a family member. I am extremely grateful for the gift, but would prefer not to shop at this particular store for ethical reasons. What are your experiences with "gift card exchange" web sites?
posted by mrrisotto
on Jan 2, 2014 -
16 answers

One parent doesn't "play by the rules" in our family gift exchange and therefore one of the grandchildren gets two presents while all the rest only get one. As grandma/step-grandma to the other eleven kids, this aggravates me every year. Is there a better way to do gift exchange in a large family? [more inside]
posted by tamitang
on Dec 21, 2013 -
43 answers

My company uses Exchange for email. Since they block POP and IMAP access for security reasons, I cannot use Gmail (or Google Apps) to read my email. They do support Active Sync, so Apple Mail and Outlook both work fine. I would prefer a web based option, as close to gmail as possible. Are there any other options out there for me? [more inside]
posted by kdern
on Dec 3, 2013 -
7 answers

Someone is going to be sending me money - they live in Japan. What is the cheapest way to send the money? The amount is going to be somewhere between $1500-6000, probably closer to the 1500.
I have an account with xetrade and they have worked well in the past for UK/US money transfers but I notice that Japanese residents cannot sign up on that site. Where can I get the best rate possible?
I also have a forex account with my broker but 'hedging' is probably too complicated for this transfer unless someone here thinks differently.
I will also be visiting this person in December so there is the possibility they could give me some cash and I could convert once I reach the US again, although I'm sure there are limits on the amounts of money I can take overseas.
posted by locussst
on Oct 8, 2013 -
5 answers

Like most impossible things, it seems like it should be simple. Basically trying to figure out a way to do project management via email with Outlook which is syncing from Google apps via MAPI / Google Apps Sync. I get an email, I put it into a folder, which then gives my colleague access to read and respond to that email in the same folder, and vice versa. Can it be done? All the juicy details inside. [more inside]
posted by sxtrumpeto
on Oct 2, 2013 -
1 answer

We have a collection of old foreign money that we'd like to get rid of. What's the best thing to do with it? Complicating factors: not that old, not that much, not exactly a curated collection, we're in Canada. [more inside]
posted by jacquilynne
on Sep 6, 2013 -
17 answers

"What are my options for a bank account that can have deposits and withdrawals in both the US and UK, with minimal transaction fees and good exchange rates for $-£ and £-$." [more inside]
posted by mhz
on Jun 23, 2013 -
3 answers

My daughter is interested in studying abroad in Edinburgh for the equivalent of her 10th grade year (fourth year in Scotland). She has an open invitation to live with family friends in Edinburgh. However, there is zero information on how we can do this without help from an official exchange student program. The internets is no help. What are the steps we need to go through to make this happen? [more inside]
posted by lostinsupermarket
on Jun 11, 2013 -
3 answers

I, sadly, have to keep an eye on an Exchange e-mail account. There is no IMAP. Is there a small Mac app that will live in the menu bar and notify me of new e-mail that actually works? Bonus if I can quickly reply to the e-mail when it appears. [more inside]
posted by michaelh
on May 23, 2013 -
4 answers

I have at least $500 worth of cash from half a dozen different Asian countries sitting in my underwear drawer for at least two years now. What's the cheapest, lowest-fee but legal way to convert them into one currency (Euro or USD)? I travel frequently to France and the United States, so changing them to Euro or USD is fine either way, but just not sure if the best way is the airport counter, a random bank, at the hotel I stay at, or something else...? I would like to have a good idea on how to go forward with this, before I go about traveling with all this random cash, only to find out I'd have to lug them back to home to my ultra top secret underwear drawer hideout since it's too expensive/all these currencies aren't accepted for exchange/not worth it. [more inside]
posted by peachtree
on Apr 29, 2013 -
7 answers

I have several different calendar accounts that I use on my iPhone, 1 personal Google Calendar, an Exchange account for my primary job, and another GCal that my part time job uses to dispatch technician jobs to me. My part time job uses this calendar to schedule calls, so as it stands now I have to manually block out anything that I schedule on my other calendars so that they don't double book me.
How can I create a setup where if I enter something on one of my calendars it will mark me as busy during that time? I don't want to have to create every event 3 times, and I don't want full synchronization as I don't want personal details and business information where other people can see it.
posted by daHIFI
on Feb 6, 2013 -
2 answers

After years of being an Android user, I finally bought my first iPhone. I'm having trouble and getting thoroughly confused with merging and syncing all my contacts. Please help me start over and create the Ultimate Contacts Manager solution that doesn't require me to become a sync wizard. [more inside]
posted by zooropa
on Jan 17, 2013 -
2 answers

I need to buy a few small gifts that begin with the letter R for a family gift exchange. My budget is $20, the potential recipients range from an 18 year old college freshman to a 70 year old. [more inside]
posted by booksherpa
on Dec 26, 2012 -
18 answers

I'm going on exchange to Lille, France in January til June. I want to record my experiences on YouTube by V-Logging--can you help me think of a cute and quirky YouTube username? My brain is failing me! Also, looking for general advice and suggestions for students going on exchange. [more inside]
posted by rhythm_queen
on Dec 16, 2012 -
4 answers

This past weekend I had a huge moving sale, and ended up with about $1500 in small bills ($1s, $5s, $10s, $20s). Between cleaning my apartment and packing everything up today, I forgot to go to the bank and deposit the money into my account. Tomorrow morning I fly out of JFK (Terminal 4, specifically) to move to San Francisco, and since my flight is early there's no time to go to a bank. I feel weird traveling with these huge wads of cash, especially as it's all small bills. Right now it's all stuffed into a cigar box in my carry-on. I don't think it will fit in my wallet. Will the currency exchange places give me $100s (or better yet a money order) for my cash, and will I find one before passing through security? Will TSA steal from me, or give me a hard time for carrying these wads of bills? Is there possibly a Bank of America branch in JFK? What should I do? I don't think I'm comfortable depositing this much cash through an ATM, and anyway it would take forever.
posted by betsbillabong
on Aug 27, 2012 -
18 answers

Is there a place online where (presumably they would have to be nice, I would guess) people would trade money for gift cards to stores at which they shop anyway? Or something similar? [more inside]
posted by jitterbug perfume
on Jul 29, 2012 -
9 answers

I am looking for a Fast Flatbed SMTP/Exchange integrated Scanner. It should work as a stand-alone device i.e. networkable (so not attached to a PC) and email scans ('scan to email' so digital copies of receipts can go into an expense system) and be easy to use. It should have SMTP/Exchange/AD integration completely so it should be possible to Email to multiple email addressess if necessary. Money is not an issue but it should have fast and responsive scan times. I am really looking for recommendations especially from people with experience with enterprise ready Flatbed scanners in SME business environments. Something sturdy and reliable. Thank you.
posted by tahirh
on Jul 8, 2012 -
3 answers

Was reading about microchips that are designed to allow a few mistakes (known as 'Sloppy Chips'), and pondering equivalent kinds of 'coding' errors and entropy in biological systems. Can a fair comparison be made between the two? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious
on Jun 5, 2012 -
4 answers

Money: who are the current deep thinkers about money, monetary systems, currency, global flow of cash... and alternative systems and options. [more inside]
posted by HopStopDon'tShop
on May 8, 2012 -
4 answers

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